Today's Headlines and Commentary

The United States is sending two more ships to the waters off Yemen, the New York Times reports. The pair, an aircraft carrier and a guided missile cruiser, will join at least seven other U.S. vessels already off Yemen’s coast, and serve as a potential warning to Iran not to send additional shipments of weapons to Houthi rebels. While the Obama administration described the move as a show of force, it also admitted that the ships could be used to block any Iranian arms shipments to Houthi forces. Said one U.S. official, “This is really about sending a message. It is a message to our partners that we are in this and willing to support. It is a message to the Iranians that we’re watching.” In Yemen, the Saudi-led air campaign against Houthi rebels continues. According to the Times, yesterday an airstrike in the capital of Sanaa triggered an enormous explosion, killing at least 25 people. Locals speculated that the airstrike may have hit an underground munitions depot, causing an explosion felt across the city. The Washington Post notes that the attack, which also wounded at least 350 people, appears to be the deadliest so far since the Saudi-led campaign began. The coalition followed that attack with a series of strikes in the western city of Ibb, killing 20 Houthi fighters, according to officials on the ground. The Associated Press has more. According to the Iranian deputy foreign minister, there may be a ceasefire in Yemen as early as today, Reuters reports. The minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, told Iranian news agencies that "We are optimistic that in the coming hours, after many efforts, we will see a halt to military attacks in Yemen." However, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya writes that envoys from Gulf countries told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that there will be no ceasefire until Houthi rebels withdraw from the territory they have seized. According to local sources, ISIS has carried out two more mass killings in Iraq, Al Jazeera reports. In Kirkuk province, ISIS reportedly killed 24 Sunnis who had been vocally critical of the group. And yesterday, the group posted pictures online apparently showing the killing of 11 men who were allegedly members of Shiite militias. Elsewhere in Iraq, government troops made some progress against ISIS forces. The AP reports that Iraqi security forces have retaken some areas in and around Ramadi after ISIS captured significant regions of the city last week. Iraqi officials explained that the battles in the city swung in the government’s favor after reinforcements arrived from Baghdad. The Guardian reveals that, according to unconfirmed sources in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been seriously wounded by an airstrike. The leader of ISIS reportedly sustained critical injuries during a coalition attack in March but, while the injuries were initially life-threatening, he has made a slow recovery. He has reportedly not yet resumed day-to-day control over the organization. The Guardian notes, however, that two previous reports of Baghdadi being wounded proved inaccurate---and indeed it seems this one might well be too: From the Daily Beast, we learn that the Pentagon says it has no evidence that, in fact, Baghdadi was the person injured in the attack. Even so, the death of al-Baghdadi would not mean ISIS' end. In Der Spiegel, Christoph Reuter has a revealing look into the internal structure of ISIS, which distributes power and control while planning for the succession of important leaders. Mr. Reuter describes how Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi, a former colonel in the intelligence service of Saddam Hussein's air defense force, meticulously planned ISIS’s rise, using systematic surveillance in northern Syria to push other would-be challengers from its safe zones. Across the border in Turkey, a joint U.S.-Turkish training program for Syrian opposition fighters will begin next month. But, the Post explains, the United States and Turkey still disagree about who the fighters will be fighting once they graduate the six-week program. While the United States has only authorized training for those fighting ISIS, Turkey maintains that the trained fighters will also combat the Assad regime in Syria, though fighting ISIS will be a priority. Disagreement between the two nations also has to do with a Turkish proposal for a “safe zone” for fighters and refugees in northern Syria that would be enforced by U.S. air power. While some administration officials have endorsed the proposal, the Obama administration has not announced a decision yet. This friction comes as Turkey, like many other countries in the region, looks to reduce its military dependence on the West. The Wall Street Journal writes that the country is trying to invigorate its domestic arms industry and reduce its dependence on its NATO allies. Among other moves, Ankara is pursuing its own fighter jet by 2023 and has rejected bids from NATO countries for a new missile defense system in favor of a Chinese offer. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said recently, “We lost World War I because the Ottoman state did not have its own combat technique. A nation that doesn’t have its own defense industry cannot have a claim to independence.” Egypt’s first freely elected president, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mursi, was sentenced to 20 years in prison today. Reuters reports that Mursi, who was ousted in 2013, was convicted on charges of violence, kidnapping, and torture that came out of violent demonstrations in 2012. But, according to Mursi’s son, the ousted president remains confident that he will regain power. After the verdict, his son said "We will get it back. President Mursi knows this well ... Do not worry about Mohamed Mursi's spirits." An al-Shabaab suicide bomber struck Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu today, killing at least 10 people. The attack, Reuters reports, comes just a day after another al-Shabaab suicide bomber attacked a U.N. minivan in the city of Garowe, killing six people. In western Ukraine yesterday, U.S. troops began training Ukrainian soldiers for their ongoing conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country. The training operation, involving 300 U.S. soldiers and several Ukrainian battalions, has drawn sharp criticism from Russia, but Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko praised the program as a “new stage of cooperation” between Ukraine and the United States, telling an audience of U.S. and Ukrainian soldiers, “We are not alone in this fight.” The Wall Street Journal has more. Yesterday, Chinese President Xi Jinping finalized an agreement with Pakistan to build $28 billion in infrastructure projects as part of a program called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The projects include upgrading Pakistan’s railway system, building power plants, highways, and oil pipelines, and developing port infrastructure. The projects, part of an expected $46 billion in aid, dwarf U.S. assistance and are at least in part meant to curb its influence in the region. For its part, the United States has given $5 billion in aid to Pakistan over the last five years. As part of a joint investigation with Der Spiegel, Jeremy Scahill of the Intercept reports that the rumors are true: Ramstein Air Base in southwest Germany serves as the “high-tech heart” of the U.S. drone program. According to top-secret documents, the base is the site of a satellite relay station that allows drone operators in Nevada to control drones circling overhead Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. In DefenseOne, Patrick Tucker covers the new access and transparency from the Pentagon regarding its cyber capabilities and the norms that will govern their application. Admiral Michael Rogers, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and Director of the NSA, told Tucker, “Remember, anything we do in the cyber arena … must follow the law of conflict. Our response must be proportional, must be in line with the broader set of norms that we’ve created over time. I don’t expect cyber to be any different.” Parting Shot: The NSA wants your kids to recycle. The Hill explains.

ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare

Jack penned a further response to Andrew McCarthy regarding the Iran review bill. Bruce Schneier made us a scorecard to help keep track of the U.S. intelligence community leakers. Bobby broke the news that several Americans have been arrested for allegedly attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Gabriella Blum and Ben linked us to an essay they ran in the Wall Street Journal adapted from their book, The Future of Violence: Robots and Germs, Hackers and Drones——Confronting A New Age of Threat. Jack told us about “Security Mom,” a great new podcast from Juliette Kayyem, who is currently Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security. And Ben brought us the Rational Security Podcast: Crusader Airstrikes Edition. Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.